The Network on Transitions to Adulthood, supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, examines the changing nature of early adulthood (ages 18-34), and the policies, programs, and institutions that support young people as they move into adulthood.
It wasn’t that long ago that young people left home, finished their education, landed a job, and married and started a family, all by age 25—and often in that order. Today, it is more like 35 and it is rarely a straight path. Kids boomerang home after college, others start school, drop out, go to work, and then drop back in to school for more training. They delay marriage, but not kids, or they opt to live together first as a test run for marriage.
Why this path into adulthood has slowed and become more complicated is a major question we explore. We also explore how families, government, and social institutions are shaping the course of young adult’s path into adulthood.
What we’ve found is a generation facing a rapidly rearranged workforce, vastly more options for relationships (living together, gay unions, delayed marriage), and a growing demand for education, which in turn slows all the subsequent steps down–and raises the stakes for all. Some are making great strides in their new world. But many, many others are not. They are treading water, and at risk of sinking.
So take a look around– we have a growing list of publications (including short issue briefs); a section of “fast facts” on, for example, trends in living at home, a demographic snapshot of this generation, how much parents spend on their young adult children, how they’re faring in the workforce, and much more. We also have a blog that curates the growing number of studies about this generation so you can stay abreast of this important change.
The Network is a group of scholars from various disciplines brought together by the MacArthur Foundation to dive deeply into this social phenomenon so we as a nation can better understand this current generation and how to help them become successful adults. The Network is chaired by University of Pennsylvania sociologist Frank Furstenberg.